New Crime-fighting Tool

August 18, 2006

State police officials made a wise decision in purchasing a new device that enables them to enhance video images that helps identify items and individuals on tape.

Soon after word of the purchase was broadcast on television, the state Department of Public Safety's Division of Scientific Services was swamped with calls from police agencies across Connecticut hoping that an improved view of old surveillance tapes would help them crack unsolved crimes.

The initial swarm of inquiries might only be the tip of the iceberg, considering that most businesses use video surveillance cameras and most residents are capable of recording video on their pocket cameras and cellphones.

It's a wonder the enhancing equipment, which consists of specialized software and a hard drive, wasn't purchased earlier.

Andrew Crumbie, who runs the scientific services division, anticipates that the requests will intensify in the coming weeks. He said he will know better in about two months whether the two people he has assigned to operate the new technology will be enough to handle the volume. He estimates that it takes approximately an hour to enhance a video.

The new equipment conjures up visions of ``CSI'' and other television crime programs in which science and computer technology do everything but cuff the suspect. In the real world, Mr. Crumbie says, even an image enhancer is sometimes not enough to positively identify a criminal -- but he believes that the software his department just purchased is the most advanced in the field.